There’s a new online college ranking system available for parents and their college-bound students. CustomCollegeRankings.com was created by a mom who went through the college process with her own children and wanted to make it easier for others.

Containing several differences from other government and private sites, CustomCollegeRankings.com was created, “To help parents with the college search process and save them some of the frustration I encountered when helping my children through this process,” says Susie Sadowsky, the site’s founder.

Three Unique features

Parents and students will find three unique features on CustomCollegeRankings.com not found on other sites, according to Sadowsky:

All colleges are ranked together so it is easier to search one spread sheet rather than several lists divided by size or region. Each criteria is provided in a different column that may be further customized. For example, site users may request a specific range for number of total students enrolled or a certain percentage of students receiving financial aid. Site users may either widen their screen or scroll through the data from left to right to find additional columns of criteria.

The way certain criteria is presented is unique, too. Crime stats are broken down by crime arrests on-campus for liquor, drugs, burglaries and sex offenses (forcible) for easy side-by-side comparisons. Acceptance rates are presented for men and women separately. For example, Massachusettes Institute of Technology shows a 7 percent acceptance rate for men and a 15 percent rate for women. This is important for students and parents trying to figure out admission chances by categorizing schools as safety, match or reach.

The ACT/SAT conversion table is based on a different approach designed to be useful to students rather than colleges. The converted scores are based on data of students accepted to college instead of what percentage of students achieved a certain score or took the test.

To narrow down the college list from over 50 columns of criteria (region, size, retention rate, grad rate, etc.)

As a quick reference for info about a particular school

To compare colleges

As an ACT/SAT score converter

What’s next

Sadowsky is already planning some exciting new changes for CustomCollegeRankings.com including adding community colleges and graduate and professional schools. More criteria may also be added such as another column to narrow down searches for one-gender schools. Another goal is to create a personal college ranking tool. Parents and students should keep a watch for these and other additions to this new college ranking site.

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Wendy David-Gaines, aka POCSmom, provides DIY information and expert insights that make the college process less stressful and more fun for the college-bound and their families. She is founder of POCSmom.com, author of Parents Of College Students survival stories, and Long Island mother of two children who have graduated from college with self-supporting jobs. She lectures at libraries, schools, and private organizations. Her motto is “POCS is the college condition parents are proud to have (POCS = Parent Of a College Student, prePOCS = Parent Of a College-bound Student)." Contact POCSmom Wendy with comments and questions.